Who am I?
by The New Flock Member
Summary: Something is wrong with Max. She can't fly, the Voice is missing, the flock is missing, and everyone is calling her Brianna. Will she get back to Fang and the flock in time to save the world, or has she just doomed us all? FAX HIATUS, POSSIBLE ADOPTION.
1. Meet Brianna

Okay, so here is my new story! This one is all about Max this time. Now, I still need a name for the Hippogriff I recently acquired *see The Books*. There are a few names I like, like Frostfeather, Fnick, or Bubbles. And he is a guy.

And I am super excited to say that I have also gained someone special…

Max: And I don't want to be here. Did I mention I have a flock to lead? And the only ones that could be in charge now are Nudge or Angel… Oh, save me! Their gonna die!

Me: Let me explain…

_Flashback_

Max: Come on, guys! We need to find Fang and Iggy!

Nudge: Yes, like wasn't it weird when Fang was gone one morning? And then Iggy disappeared right before our eyes! I wonder who is next… Not me! I call dibs on being last!

Gazzy: Can we please land? I'm hungry.

Max: Okay, a stop to eat and rest, then we are going to look again!

Angel: Can we go to McDonalds?

_Fast-forward_

Flock: *stuffing faces*

Max: I'll be right back. *walks to restroom. Opens door and disappears.*

_End of flashback_

Me: And she appeared in my food storage. And now she sleeps there.

Max: Because it was there, in a shed with a rabid Hippogriff, or with you. And your room is a mess.

Me: Heh heh…

**Disclaimer:** The Flock is not mine, even though Max now lives at my house.

**Claimer: **The plot, Brianna and her family, and Kenna are mine! I can find where you live if you take them… Don't forget I have a 'rabid' hippogriff.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Brianna? Hello? Is there anyone home?" my friend Kenna asked, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Yes, sorry," I said, shaking my head. We had been friends since 2nd grade, and we hadn't been able to get together much since high school started, so we planned this huge trip to the local sub shop and then the mall. Here I was, ruining another get together by starring out the window, looking at the clouds.

"Are you thinking of someone? A someone like David Lederfine?" She looked around suspiciously, as if the someone I was thinking about was in the sub shop.

I laughed. "No." In fact, I had been thinking of someone. A very amazing someone, who could help me protect me and my family and who might do it better than I could. Someone who I loved.

But I had no idea where the heck he was. Or any of my family, for that matter.

You see, my name isn't Brianna Jenson. It's Maximum Ride. Two years ago, I went to sleep with the flock in a forest. The next morning, I woke up in a bed, with a head full of memories that weren't mine. The body was hardly mine, either. Some of my attributes shifted over with me, like my wings (thank goodness) and my battle scars. Brianna was gone. I don't know if she is with the flock, or gone for good, and I haven't found that out. I would have gone searching for the flock, but there was a huge dilemma.

I couldn't fly.

This body was too heavy. When I was put into it, it had no hollow bones, no air sacs. I tried for weeks to fly, but nothing came out of it, so eventually I stopped trying. I always hopped the flock would come looking for me, but as far as I know, they haven't succeeded or even tried. So I wait. There really isn't anything else I can do.

"You're doing it again," said Kenna crossly. "Ever since high school started you've changed. You got taller, skinner, your hair is darker, and you space out. You even almost went emo at the beginning of the year."

"High school does that to you," I stated, pulling her away from that subject. She grinned, bobbed her head, and continued on her rant about some book author. I sighed and got comfy. This was going to take a while.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I pulled my car slowly into the garage. We had a cat, and she liked to hop in front of cars. That's right. I, Maximum Ride, have a license. No more need to dodge police on the highway, people! I pulled the key out and went inside.

"I'm home!" I called out. No one answered, but I wasn't surprised. Brianna's little brother, Ben, had a sleepover at his friends, and her parents usually worked late. I walked over to the computer and sat down. I booted it up and went to go get some hot coco. The Thing, as Brianna liked to call the computer, always took forever to start up and pull up a web page. I made four cups of hot coco and went to sit at The Thing.

I browsed the history, looking for Facebook. My eyes wandered, and I caught site of a link that wasn't there before. I gasped.

_Fang's Blog_

I hurriedly moved the mouse to click on the shortcut. The Thing never could load fast enough! Finally the page was there, right in front of me.

_**Welcome to Fang's Blog!**_

_**Visitor Number:**__ It broke. Again. But believe me, you are way up there in the numbers._

_People of the world,_

_It's Nudge. I still have no idea why I always type that first, because this kind of has been me for like a year and a half. I am really sorry, but Fang still says he isn't gonna take over again. Sorry._

_Here is this again. Max, if you're out there, comment or something. Fang is not Fang anymore without you. I type this every time. Everyone, cross your fingers that it works!_

_That's all._

_**[Comment]**_

__I clicked on comment.

_**Username:**__ The real MAXIMUM RIDE!_

_**Subject: **__THIS IS FROM MAX! READ RIGHT NOW!_

_**Comment: **__I didn't have a choice when I left you. I wasn't kidnapped. Email me at . Please!_

I opened up my email. A few minutes later, I got an email.

_**[Reply] [Reply to All] [Forward]**_

_**From:**_

_**Subject:**__ None_

_This better not be a joke. When did Nudge decide to go vegetarian?_

I hit Reply.

_**To:**_

_**Subject:**_

___When Fang and Nudge were at the Badwater Basin, waiting for me so we could go save Angel. I wasn't there, and neither were Gazzy or Iggy. She saw some hawks tearing apart some rats or something, and that is when she decided to go meatless. It didn't last long._

_959-643-8870 is my phone number. Call me if you can._

_Max_

_**[Send]**_

__I hit send, hoping that my phone would ring soon.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

_Beep, beep, beep_

I hit the button on my watch, to turn the alarm off. I rolled over, and to my surprise, fell of what I had been sleeping on. Groaning, I rubbed the sleep out of my eye and looked around. Wait… why did I fall asleep on the couch?

I saw my cell phone on the coffee table and it all fell into place. I found the Flock, kind of. And they hadn't called yet.

"Was that a comfy night?" said a voice.

I looked around to see who it was. Brianna's mom was standing above me, holding a hand out to help me up. "I was waiting for a phone call. I fell asleep waiting for it," I explained sheepishly.

"That's okay. I made blueberry pancakes, if you want some," she told me, pulling me up. "All though I don't know why you would say no. Your appetite has grown immensely."

"Thanks, but I think I'll take a shower first," I said, grabbing my phone and heading up the stairs. I went into the bathroom and turned on the water. I waited until it was warm, then I got in.

Now, during the day, my wings get super cramped. I have to keep them tight to my back, never letting them show. I even have to be careful about it when I sleep, because almost everyone here sleepwalks.

This is why I love taking showers and baths. I stretched out my wings to their fullest, working out the cramps. Picking up the soap, I lathered up my wings and washed all the sweat and dirt from the day off. Sadness welled up in me as I worked my fingers through the feathers, preening them.

That was when my phone started to ring.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Me: A cliff hanger! I am so evil! Mwuhaha!

Max: I don't care. Let me back to the flock, or else…

Me: I can't do that. You ate almost 40 pancakes! My mom still needs to work you for that food.

Max: … Shoot.

Me: But I might get you to see Fang…

Max: You know where he is?!?!?! Tell me!!!

Me: Uhh… *gulps*

R&R

-Wryder and Max


	2. Telling Kenna

Me: So here I am, typing this up after school.

Max: And she made me go. It was torture! The Voice wasn't telling me anything! I think I even failed a test!

Me: It was a test to assess what you know. Stop whining.

I love my reviewers!

HollisterLove- This whole story should be in Max's POV.

I still need a name for my hippogriff! If I don't get any reviews on it, then I will have to draw one out of a hat.

Max: Why name something that hates you?

Me: Correction: It hates you, not me. He almost bit Max. I told you to bow to him before approaching!

Max: Whatever. *storms out*

Me: Okay, now that she left, I can say some things.

If you already kidnapped a flock member, or in particular, Max, then I must say something. I am only including Saint Fang of Boredom kidnapping Fang and Bell (Aleria14 I think) kidnapping Iggy. It causes me too much trouble to go and track down every flock kidnapper. I mean, you try doing it! I swear, Fang has 12 owners alone!

And if Max is already yours, sorry. Again, I don't follow anyone except Saint and Bell.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the flock. I want to, but I don't. I also don't own Apple.

**Claimer:** OC's are mine! I need more stuff to put into these…

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I ripped aside the shower curtain and hit answer on the phone.

"Hello?" I said, a little breathless.

"Would you like to refinance your car? For only-"

"I DON'T GIVE A FREAKING CRAP ABOUT REFINACING MY CAR! AND I AM WAITING FOR A CALL!" I screamed into the phone as I slammed it shut. It started ringing as soon as it was closed.

I flipped it open. "I don't care about refinancing my car!" I said into the phone.

"Umm… If this is a bad time, I can call back," said a sweet, angelic voice on the other end. One that I haven't heard in a long time.

"Angel! No, its fine! I was just, arguing with a salesman before you called," I said, backtracking. "Where are you?"

"You don't sound like Max…"

"I know, sweetie. But I am. Tell everyone to fly to a suburb of Houston, Texas, okay? Diamond River South Street, house 3476. I promise I will be there, okay? And I love you."

"I love you too. Will you explain why you left when we get there?"

"I'll tell you what happened. I never wanted to leave, and I missed you so much." The line went dead. I assume the payphone or wherever she was calling from ran out of time, so I decided to get ready. I had to get to Kenna's.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

At Kenna's, the doorbell was louder than I thought it would be. It took three rings for Kenna to come to the door.

"Whozthere?" she asked, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Me. I need to talk to you," I said, uncomfortably.

"Comein, move it, Brianna comein." She was still super tired.

"We need a computer." I had decided to break the news to her by showing her the blog. She took me upstairs to her room. I sat down in front of her Apple computer, booted it up, and pulled up a web page.

"What is this about?" Kenna asked. All sleep was gone from her voice.

"This," I said. Fangs blog had just loaded, and I saw it was a new blog.

_**Welcome to Fangs blog!**_

_**Visitor Number:**__ Who Cares?_

_People of the general public,_

_This is Angel! We found Max! She said she was in Texas, in a small suburb. Yes!_

_Max, here we come!_

_Angel and the Flock!_

_Rock on!_

_**[Comment]**_

"So you woke me up at 8 in the morning on a Saturday to show me this? Please don't say you want to go hunting for Max. I mean, I used to follow Fang everywhere, like, two years ago! Not now!" Kenna almost shouted.

"No. I woke you up to tell you that they are headed to here. As in, to your house," I almost whispered. I held the IPod that I never listened to out to Kenna. I never had listened to music, because all of the lyrics reminded me of the flock, or Fang. "Brianna would have wanted you to have this," I choked out.

"What are you talking about, Bria? This better not be a joke," said Kenna. I looked up, and her eyes were full of disbelief.

"I hate that name!" I shouted. I couldn't take it anymore. "Brianna never was my name! Not ever! It was the name of your friend, but I'm not her! My name is Maximum Ride, okay? I don't even know Brianna, and I never did."

"Is this a sick joke? Did you think I would believe you? What is this, Bria?" asked Kenna.

I knew Kenna would never accept it without proof. "Two years ago, I fell asleep in a forest with my Flock. I woke up in Brianna's body with my wings and my scars. See?" I said, yanking up my sleeve. "I tried to cut a microchip in my arm out with a seashell. I almost bled out, and Fang found me and though I went crazy. I have been living a lie for the past two years!" I dropped down on the bed. "Brianna is dead." Somehow, I knew this to be true. It was like a gut feeling.

"Brianna is dead? How?" Kenna looked like she couldn't take it anymore. "But, wait… If you are Max, then shouldn't you have wings?"

"I do. Do you have a knife? I need slits in my jacket."

"Sure…" A dazed Kenna walked downstairs to get a knife. She handed me a pocket knife, and I took off my jacket and cut slits into the back of it. I proceeded to do the same with my T-shirt, and as soon as my T-shirt was off, I slowly unfurled my wings, shaking them. My cami already had slits in it.

"You are Max," she wondered. Then the realization hit her. "And Brianna is dead." She sat down at the table and started to cry. I bent down to hug her. I don't know how long we stayed like this, all wrapped up in arms and wings.

Then a knock came at the door. Kenna was in no shape to get it, so I pulled my wings in tight to my back and went to open the door. Right in front of me stood a teenage Iggy, strawberry blond hair and all.

"Iggy? Is that you?" I said.

"Is this Max?" he asked, confused. Oh, right. My voice had changed. Opps.

"Yes, it's me. Come in, I know how to prove it." My wings were the only part of me that never changed, and I hoped Iggy had never forgotten their feel. He walked in, still unsure. "Here." I unfurled my wings and moved one so that Iggy was touching it. "Does this feel like mine?"

His expression changed to one of wonder. "Max," he breathed, and in an instant he was giving me a hug. "Where have you been? Fang-" He stopped talking and stepped back, grinning.

I was about to ask him why he moved when a pair of strong arms hugged me from behind. My head whipped around, looking for the source of the arms, but nothing was there. Then, suddenly, there was Fang.

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Me: I just love Fax!

Max: I… I must say, that was kind of a good entrance. But I am not that wimpy!

Me: Well, the flock has been out of your life for two years. You got kind of soft.

Max: I would never do that!

Me: My story, my rules. It's a boy!

Max: She named the hippogriff… Not listening to me, of course.

Me: No one voted, except for Emily Rivers, so the name id Fnick! Yay!

Max: Now I hate Emily.

Me: Next up is a Waterhorse!

Max: Not another!

-Wryder and Max out.


	3. Let us sort this out, shall we?

Me: It took forever to write this!

Max: And I should know. She kept me up to help her! I was up for 3 straight days!

Me: Liar. I did not keep you up that long! I was saying that it took forever for me to think of what should go into this chapter, not to write it. Sorry if I confused you.

Max: You confuse me! I honestly don't know how to do sign language, but you do it 24/7!

Me: That is the fault of the American education system. Go 'foreign" language class!

Max: Just do the disclaimer and stop prolonging my torture.

Me: My muffin, no, my muffin, ASPARAGUS!

Max: Sigh.

Disclaimer: Not Jimmy P, I am, Own Maximum Ride, I do not.

Claimer: Plotline. And Brianna, and Kenna. Fnick now speaks!

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"Fang," I breathed. I almost collapsed, until a thought struck my mind. "Wait, if you and Iggy are here, then where is the flock? And who is protecting them? You left them alone?" I practically screeched.

"Heck no. They're in the tree in the front," said Iggy with a grin. He didn't change much; his hair was longer and he was a few inches taller, but that was all. Then my eyes swiveled back to Fang.

He had changed. He looked a mess. Now, I know the flock doesn't have the opportunity to shower and brush our hair every day, but Fang was really bad. He looked like he hadn't had any sleep at all, and his face… Well, all I can say about that is that he didn't really look like Fang anymore. It was as if something haunted him.

"What happened to you?" I asked, pulling away from him to get a better look. The look didn't get better.

"Nothing," he growled, turning around and storming outside.

Iggy's mouth dropped open in surprise. "That is only the 13th word he's spoken since you left."

A wave of regret washed through me. Why hadn't I tried harder to find them?

Of course, Kenna choose that moment to come in. "Who the heck is this, and why is he in my house? Brianna, why the heck did you let him in?" she asked, angrily.

That was so typically Kenna. "Iggy, Kenna, Kenna, Iggy. Now, Kenna, apologize for yelling at this awesome pyromaniac like that. Or he will try to blow up something important to you, like your clock," I joked.

Confusion crossed Iggy's face. "Brianna? Who is that?"

The moment of laughter was totally shot. "Bring the flock in. I think I should explain some things," I told Iggy gently, nudging him towards the door.

……………………………………………………………………………..

"… And so here we are," I completed my really long retelling of the last two years. Every once in a while during the retelling Kenna would burst in with another point of view on something, or with her comments. Angel sat in my lap, and Gazzy was at my side. Iggy sat across from me, and Fang was next to him, only a little father back. Kenna was on my other side, and Nudge was against the far wall. She wouldn't come any closer, and I wondered why.

"I'm glad you're back," said Angel. Her voice was a little muffled because she was holding on to me like a koala bear.

"Me too," I whispered into her ear. "So, where are we going next?" I asked the whole flock.

"Nowhere," Nudge almost growled. I blinked in shock at the underlying tone of hostility.

"Maybe Gazzy and I should have mentioned this earlier," said Iggy, seemingly speaking to the whole flock, "but we think that, uh, Itex is rising up again."

After a shocked silence, I spoke up. "But what about that fight in Germany? Didn't we pretty much scramble them there? And also when we killed the UB. How could they come back?" I realized that my Brianna side was rambling, so my Max side kicked in. "We need to beat them back down. Iggy, do you know their whereabouts?"

"Nope, we don't," chirruped Gazzy.

"Okay, so the first thing we need to do is-" I was cut off by Nudge.

"Don't even think about listening to her. How can this be Max? Even if it is, she left us!" exclaimed Nudge.

Immediately I retaliated. "Not now, Nudge. Save it for later," I said. "Kenna, I need your computer again."

"You know where it is," she smirked at me.

"Iggy, bring Nudge and come upstairs," I told him.

"With pleasure," he grinned, mock saluting me. He went over to Nudge, scooped her up, and followed me right up the stairs.

"Here is the computer. Search up Itex. I need to straighten some things out before we leave, give me a head start and all. Brianna's parents and all," I commanded Iggy. Leaving him to work his magic with Nudge and the computer, I went downstairs. "Kenna," I called, "I'm going to go home and tell Mom that I'm staying the night over here and might stay tomorrow too, okay? Sorry if you get in trouble when they find out I was never staying here."

"Don't worry. I can take the flames." I slapped Kenna a high five, and gave her a hug. Why not everyone has a friend like her, I don't know. I Walked out the front and unlock my car door. I was about to open it when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Fang was behind me. His eyes were asking if he could go, so I nodded towards the passenger side. He walked around and got in at the same time I did. This was going to be an awkward ride.

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Me: Awe!!!!!

Max: I really don't like your friends.

Me: No one was paying attention to me when we walked home, so I was screaming random phrases, like 'the grass is purple', at the top of my lungs.

Max: No one payed any attention to her, so she got louder. And louder. And louder!

Me: They should have payed attention. I have a dilemma!

Max: Just say no to drugs!

Me: Not that! I was wondering, does anyone want me to make this a part 2 to my other story, The Books? They wouldn't really influence each other, and Artemis would hardly be mentioned. She might not even show up in this one, or if she does, just a small part at the end. Thoughts?

Oh, and there is no Niggy in this. Sorry if you might have picked up some hints to that.

Max: Bleck. No comment.

-Max and Wryder


	4. Telling Fang

Me: There is a link to some pictures on Brianna, Kenna, Fang, and some floor plans on my profile. I drew them!

I think I'm gonna do this before I start…

I love my reviewers!

StarodCalamity and Bell: I can't tell you what is wrong with Nudge. I think you is gonna find that out in this chapter or the next. Bad grammar! Tehe!

The Wisher and Defunkitated Vampires: Thanks for telling me you love the story!

Bell: Um… You asked a lot!

MCAWESOMNE IS AWSOME! You should try cooliowowizow. That is my favorite.

You will see what happens in the car ride in this chapter!

I'm sorry you hate cliff hangers! But they keep you coming back!

Itex might win! Or lose!

You will see about Brianna!

Oh and I am super nitpicky about grammer and punctuation, most of the time. If I read a poorly written fanfic, I go, "Oh, uh! There needs to be a comma there! And a space there! It needs a new paragraph! Where are the descriptions?" Sometimes I even copy it into Word, edit it, and send it to the author.

I used exclamation marks at the end of all those sentences! I over used them!

Max: Be quiet! You are going to burst my ear drum!

Me: Sorry. Had to yell. Iggy, it is nice to know that Bell gets hyper on air. I might try it sometime…

Max: You do realize that it sounded like you never breathe?

Me: Shh! I is trying to get hyper off the air!

Max: … Iggy! What did you do?

**Disclaimer:** This is why I is on Fan fiction. If I owned this, why would I be on here?

**Claimer:** OC's and plotline are mine!

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"So… What's up with Nudge?" I causally asked as I started up my green car. Fang just looked at me and shrugged. "Okay…" Man, Fang got even quieter, if that is even possible. He used to talk to me all the time, but now…

The car ride to my, uh, Brianna's house was in total silence. If I knew what to say, I would, but it seemed as if nothing could break the silence.

I pulled the car into the garage, and got out, mentally going through a checklist of what I would need. _Gas money, food, one outfit…_ Since I couldn't fly, I would need money for gas. I wasn't going to walk, and I wasn't going to let Iggy or Fang exhausted themselves carrying me. I could always stop by my real mom's house to get more money. Maybe.

"Mom!' I exclaimed as I opened the door. "I'm going to spend the day and night with Kenna!"

"Okay!" I heard, muffled through the walls of the house. As quickly as I could, I got together the articles I needed and loaded them into the car. Fang stared at me curiously every time I passed him. Soon, all was loaded, and I started the car again. The bank was next.

Fang was still looking at me curiously as I pulled into the drive thru window. I filled out a withdrawal slip for all the money is my account, around 1,000 dollars. A job really pays off!

"And that's for?" questioned Fang, causing me to jump about a foot in my seat. I shot a glare at him, and he smirked. Then I realized what the question was.

"Gas money." His eyes, searching my face, still stayed confused. "Something happened," I said, my voice getting quieter, "when I got put into this body. I can't fly."

"Wings?" He asked, still confused.

"Yeah, I still have those." I laughed. "But I can't fly." The tone instantly got more serious.

"You can't fly," he said slowly, like he couldn't believe it. His eyes closed, tightly, and the sight was just so, so, so pitiful! Fang already looked really bad, but this information just seemed to stun him.

Tentatively, his hand reached out, as if on its own accord. He touched my back, right over my wings, as if reassuring himself that they were still there. The bell outside my door dinged, to alert me of the arrival of my cash. I open the window, reached out, and took the tube. Pulling it into the car, I opened it and counted the amount. _800, 900, 1000. All good._

I pulled out of the drive thru and headed towards Kenna's house. Fangs hand was still on my back, so I rolled my shoulders to try and get him to move. He got the message.

_Fang, why did you turn crazy?_ Of course, I knew the answer. It was a my fault.

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Me: Awww!

Max: It was kind of good.

Me: And coming from her, it was a complement! :)

Max: Hardly.

Me: Oh, and, Bell, when you reviewed, you prodded me into updating! So this chapter is dedicated to you!

-Wryder and Max


	5. Spill the Beans!

Me: Update!

Max: Where are the cookies?

Me: Never! We made cookies yesterday, and Max got very happy. And hyper. I hid the cookies, and now Max is raiding the house.

Max: Just tell me!

Me: Nope! It's another bribe to get you to do what I want.

Max: … :(

Me: ;)

**Disclaimer**: I am female. Good enough?

**Claimer: **Brianna, plot, Kenna, yadayada.

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I pulled in to the driveway, wary of the low front to the car. Fang was silent, still going over what I had said. As soon as the car was turned of, Angel burst out of the front of the house.

"You can't fly?" she accused when the car doors were open.

My reply was a simple, "We will figure it out, 'k?" as I walked up to the house.

When I was inside, Nudge was on to me. "What, so the 'Maximum' can't fly?" she spit out. "Just dandy. Care to show us your other powers?"

I just stared at her. More of a glare, really. She started out glaring right back, but as I put more and more power into my trademark, she backed down. She actually started to look cowed.

"Don't ever forget the fact that I raised you. You might have changed, but I raised you," I stated, a litter harsher that I meant it to be. Nudge got the message and stalked off. I rubbed my temples. It's easy to forget how to handle 5 mutant bird kids when you are out of practice.

"You okay?" whispered a voice behind me.

I tensed up, and then recognized the voice. "Kind of. I'm out of practice." I turned around to see Fang. "So, what happened to Nudge?"

"Ask Iggy," Stated Fang with a grimace. I guess he wasn't used to talking.

At the mention of Iggy, I looked around and counted heads. Angel, Gazzy, Fang, Nudge, sulking in a corner. No Iggy. And come to think of it, no Kenna, either. If there was one place Iggy would go in a new place, it was the kitchen. I walked over to said kitchen to try and find Iggy, but I found way more.

"So, you fought Eraser's while you were blind, huh?" gushed Kenna. Obvious much?

Iggy, who was currently under the counter looking for who knows what, said, "Well, duh. I've been blind since I was 6. The only time I actually fought anything was after I was 14." He came out from under the counter with a bottle in his hand. "Is this vinegar?"

"Yes," continued Kenna. "And you make bombs too, right? Cool."

"Yeah, cool," said Iggy distractedly. "Do you have an empty soap container? And liquid glue?"

"Yeah, both are here," said Kenna, opening the junk drawer. Nether of them had noticed me at the door.

"Ig, we're leaving soon. Finish up whatever you're doing here and meet us outside."

"Oh, hey Max. I need-" started Iggy.

"I don't want to know. If I never know, I'm not responsible for it." I turned around to walk out. "Oh, and Kenna? I can see what your doing."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Okay, pile in!" I said cheerily. The flock continued to stare at my car.

"Max? That thing makes a clown car look big," Gazzy said as he shook his head.

"So? One in shotgun, 4 in back. No problemo. Now load up! Or I'll leave you behind."

"I call Shotgun!" yelled Iggy. Angel and Gaz tried to protest, but I put a hand up.

"He called it. Now, bags in the trunk! And stat!" Fang opened the back of the car and loaded in the backpacks, and everyone else piled into the car. Out of town, here we go.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I checked my rearview mirror. Civilization was gone, and had been for the past hour. Good. I pulled over.

"Out! We are going to my mom's house." A cheer from Gazzy and Angel, and they pulled out of the car like lighting. Nudge and Fang went a little more reluctantly, and Iggy opened the car door slowly. "Not so fast, Igs. I want an explanation from you," I said, grabbing his shoulder. Iggy shrugged and closed the car door, and from the outside Fang gave me a funny look. _Explanation,_ I mouthed at Fang, and he looked relieved. Good.

"So," I said, kicking the car into action again, "what happened? The whole story. Spill."

"Ahh," said Iggy, leaning back and closing his sightless eyes. "I should have known.

"The night you disappeared, it was my watch. Fang woke me up, as per usual, and I stayed up the normal amount of time. But when I went to get you up, you weren't there. I scoured the tree, and still couldn't find you. Thinking you just went for a flight or something, and I didn't hear you, I settled down to wait. An hour later, you still weren't back, so I woke Fang up. He went out to look for you, but was unsuccessful.

"In the morning Fang said you needed some time on your own and that you would be back soon. I thought he had meet you in the woods, and believed him. As far as I could tell, everyone else did, too. He went crazy trying to find you. He tried to hide the fact that he was looking for you, but it was obvious. Soon we all knew you didn't leave to be alone.

"We busted some of the remains of Itex looking for you. Fang kind of… well, he became a shell. I slowly took over taking care of the flock, with the help of Angel. You know, she was a lot more grown up then any of us gave her credit for. Nudge hacked into the blog and took over, because Fang went cationic. We looked for a year and a half for you, unsuccessfully.

"For a month or so after that, your mom took us under her wing, and I was glad to have the burden of taking care of the flock off me for a while. But it got to me. She suddenly had 2 humans, 5 food eating machine/bird kids, and 2 dogs to take care of. Angel told me that she was worried about running out of funds, so we left.

"We wandered around for about a week, then Gazzy said he had a feeling that we had to go back to the old house in Colorado. Oh, and also that is a new power of his, he knows things. Don't know how he knows them, he just does. Any way, we went there, and to our surprise there was Jeb. Gazzy and Angel said he was good, and after 4 months of living there I believed them.

"Then Jeb had a heart attack, and a few hours later he died. We were all heartbroken, and mourned him and his death. A few days later, Total disappeared. Angel was devastated, so Nudge went out to look for him. She came back every night, empty handed, until 9 days later when she came home with information.

"She told me she found his body. It looked as though he had been flying, and he got attacked by some large bird that left Total there to die. After that, Nudge wasn't the same.

"Almost a week after that Gazzy left the stove on, and the house burned down. No one was hurt. The only things we had were the cloths on our backs, around 200 dollars Fang had in his pocket, and the laptop Nudge had saved. Angel was heartbroken, because Celeste had burned to ashes. That is when we got your comment."

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Please, don't kill me!

Max: Please, do.

Me: No! I already lost my voice! I don't need to lose anything else!

Max: What a pleasant weekend it has been….

-Wryder and Max


	6. An update! Yay!

Time to get off my lazy butt and actually write something for this...

Dylan: I didn't even know you had another story...

Me: Peeps, this is Dylan. Kidnapee #2. Max is... somewhere...

Dylan: Meaning Wryder let her loose too look for other flock members after she was driven insane.

Me: If you really want her to visit you, PM me and I'll drop her a hint. She might not stay long, though. On with the story!

* * *

"All of that?" I choked out. "All because I left?"

Iggy slowly nodded. "But your back now."

"Only half here." I gripped the wheel tighter. "Flightless, I'm useless. I've been out of action for years! I'm not ready!" Tears started dripping down my face. Maybe it was wrong to unload on Iggy, but I needed to. "I'm a horrible mother. I left! I didn't try to find you!"

Iggy's face fell. "It's fine." His voice was gruff, older.

"Sorry." I laughed. It must've looked like I was insane or something. "I don't know if I can take over now. Maybe later, but I'm not ready."

"Ah." Iggy folded his arms and looked at the floor.

The drive took ages. I laughed when I reached the border to New Mexico. Only one more state until Arizona.

"We should stop for food, Max," Iggy said softly. It took me a moment to respond: Max was a bit weird to hear after a while.

"Okay." I pulled into one of those truck stop diners. I ran inside and bought chips and drinks for the whole flock. Sure enough, when I went outside, they all were waiting by the car. I toosed the grub at them.

"Mmm," moaned Gazzy as he ripped into a bag of Sun Chips. "Heavenly." The food was gone in minutes, and everyone was leaning against my car in a half sleep.

I yawned. "Can anyone else drive? We could do shifts, get some sleep and stuff. That way we wont stop traveling."

"I can, but I don't want to drive your car," Nudge snapped. Her eyes were on me, blazing.

"Nudge," warned Iggy. The one word deflated and resistance.

"Fine," she huffed. "I go first." She yanked open the drivers door and sat down. I took passenger, and handed her the keys. Everyone else piled in the back.

* * *

Six hours. Driving took forever, even at breakneck speeds. Everyone conked out the whole way, even me. Nudge haddnt bothered on waking me up. She drove the whole way, which was something I would have never been able to do.

"We're here!" she hollered, waking everyone up in the whole car. "Outskirts of Mesa, Arizona, tanning capitol, USA." She pulled a quick right turn. "And now at Dr. M's!"

"Yippe!" Angel ran out the door, Iggy on her heels. Gazzy was behind them. I stepped out of the car and went to the curb.

I turned to Nudge. "Thanks, you know."

She glared. "You owe me." With that, she strutted into the house.

"Thirteen. A rough age."

I jumped, and spun around. "How do you do that? Sneak up on me?"

Fang ignored my comment. "I remember then, thirteen."

Just then, the reality of what I was going to do hit me. "Fang, I can't- I- Can we just, uh, go somewhere? Now?"

His eyebrows went down. "But your mom's inside. I thought-"

"That's the problem! Look, can we just leave? For a few minutes only, I swear. I need some time to think." I didn't even wait for a reply, getting in the car. My mom was on the other side of the door, and I couldnt face her. Fang got in the other side, and I started up the car.

"Where?"

"A park or something."

"Down the road, to the left."

I followed his instructions to a small park. It had some swings, a pavilion, and a play set, but that was it. I opened the door and went over to a table in the shade. Fang joined me, and took my hand. We sat in silence.

"Thank you, Fang. For everything." I buried my head in his shoulder, and his arms went around me. "For being there. For not hating me."

"I can't hate you, Max."

"Others can."

"Ignore her. She'll come around."

His hands touched my cheek, and turned my face to look at him. I could see the intentions in his eyes, and for the first time, I didn't want to run. His lips met mine, and we kissed. It didn't last long.

"I love you." The feeling spilled over me, gushing out of every pore.

"You have matured. You're a great mother." He stood up, pulling me with him. "Go to yours." I let him pull me off to the car.

* * *

Me: Aw...

Short, I know. But at least its up.

I also have almost zilch inspiration here, so its going to be slow. Sorry.

R&R!


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